FEATURED ARTICLES ABOUT HEARINGS - PAGE 2

The chairman of the City Council's Finance Committee today called for hearings into allegations that Chicago's red-light camera contract was likely built on a $2 million bribery scheme. The company, Redflex Traffic Systems Inc., already is under investigation by Chicago Inspector General Joseph Ferguson and has been banned by Mayor Rahm Emanuel from competing for its soon-to-expire red-light contract. The Emanuel administration ordered an audit of that contract and also blocked Redflex from competing for the mayor's upcoming speed camera program.

The CTA on Monday announced the schedule for public hearings on threatened service cuts and fare hikes planned for next month and again in January if there is no resolution to the transit funding crisis. The hearings will be held at 6 p.m. Oct. 30 in Lane Tech High School, 2501 W. Addison St., Chicago; 6 p.m. Nov. 1 in Julian High School, 10330 S. Elizabeth St., Chicago; and 6 p.m. Nov. 5 in CTA headquarters, 567 W. Lake St., Chicago. The CTA faces operating deficits of $110 million in 2007 and $158 million in 2008.

SPRINGFIELD -- Illinois lawmakers announced today they will hold hearings to review the state’s business tax structure, giving companies threatening to leave the state a forum to vent about this year’s tax hike. Senate President John Cullerton and House Speaker Michael Madigan said the two chambers’ revenue committees will work together to hear ideas from numerous business-oriented groups, ranging from the Illinois Chamber of Commerce to the Civic Committee of The Commercial Club of Chicago.

Two Chicago aldermen whose wards are awash in jet noise are calling for hearings on the new air-traffic patterns at O'Hare International Airport. Alds. Mary O'Connor, 41st, and Margaret Laurino, 39th Ward, introduced a resolution at Wednesday's City Council meeting seeking hearings with Chicago Aviation Commissioner Rosemarie Andolino and other officials at the Chicago Department of Aviation, officials from the Federal Aviation Administration and the major airlines serving O'Hare, O'Connor told her constituents Thursday.

* Supreme Court due to rule on Saturday * Kenyatta, Odinga say will respect ruling * U.S. Embassy warns citizens about possible unrest By James Macharia and Edmund Blair NAIROBI, March 27 (Reuters) - Kenya's Supreme Court hears a petition on Wednesday challenging the victory by Uhuru Kenyatta in this month's presidential election, a case that will test Kenyan democracy five years after a disputed vote ignited tribal violence. Peaceful voting on March 4 went a long way to restoring Kenya's reputation as one of Africa's more stable democracies, reinforced when losing candidate Raila Odinga took his challenge to court rather than letting it play out on the streets.

By Keith Coffman CENTENNIAL, Colo., Dec 18 (Reuters) - A judge presiding over the murder case against accused Colorado theater gunman James Holmes on Monday set hearings for next month on whether the onetime graduate student should undergo a second sanity examination. Arapahoe County District Court Judge Carlos Samour set aside four days in late January to hear evidence on a prosecution request to compel Holmes, who has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity, to be evaluated by their experts.

A Will County judge is scheduled to hear Drew Peterson's motion for a new trial on Feb. 19 and the next day has been set aside for a sentencing hearing at which prosecutors will put on evidence that he also murdered his fourth wife, Stacy. The judge set the dates this morning during a hearing in Joliet. Peterson was convicted last fall of drowning his third wife, Kathleen Savio, in her Bolingbrook home in 2004, and he faces up to 60 years in prison. He is the sole suspect in Stacy's disappearance but has never been charged.

Chicago Public Schools has started a series of public hearings to get input from parents, educators and community members on a 10-year facilities master plan mandated by a new state law. A draft version of the plan was released in May and a final plan is due Oct. 1. The 2011 law requiring the long-term plan grew out of the backlash over an earlier round of school closings. The law, among other things, was intended to give communities updated assessments of the schools in their area.